Potato-sowing machine



E. CADEDDU.

POTAT() SOWING MACHINE. APPLICATIONrlLEn1uNE18.1919.

Patented Mau'. 23, 1920.

Hummm gf/'sfo a dedo( u.

Amis.

TED sTATEs PATENT POTATO-SOWING MACHINE.

Specification ofLetters Pitent.

Patented Mai'. 23, 1920.

Application filed June 1li, 1918. Serial No. Mlltl.

.To all Qin/wm t may concern.'

Be it lrnown that I, Erisro CADEDDU, a

subject of the King of Italy, and a residentv of the city of Vancouver,in the Province of BritishColumbia, Canada, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Potato-Sowing Machines, of which thefollowing is a specification. r

My invention relates to improvements 1n machines for sowing potatoes,`and the object of my invention is to devise a. machine of thischaracter which is `capable of me-l chanically furrowing the ground,automatically depositing the seed potatoes in such furrows, and thenfilling in the furrows to cover the potatoes, such machine beingselfpropelling, thereby entirely eliminating the necessity of sowingpotatoes by hand and enabling the work to be carried out moreexpeditiously and economically.

l attain this object by the construction illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings in which j Figure 1 is an end view of the machine.

Fig. 2 is a plan view.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail view of the chute and slides. l

Fig. a is a face view of the filling-in element.

Fig. 5 is a side view of the share and rack.

Similar figures of referenceindicate similar parts throughout theseveral views.

1 indicates the frame of the machine formed of any suitable material,such as steel channels, the front and rear ends of the frame heiligsupported on steerable wheels 2 and 3, while extending transverselyacross the frame intermediate its lengthis a rotatably mounted axle 4,the extremities of which are extended beyond the sides of the frame andprovided with wheels 5 and 6. rlhe steerable wheels Zand 3 areresiliently mounted, the jaws carrying their respective axles beingformed on their upper ends as flat plates and 8 respectively, in whichplates are secured at the four corners thereof bolts 9 carrying buffersprings 10 the upper ends of which bear against the underside of plates11 and 12, these plates being arranged under the heads of the bolts 9,the bolts themselves passing throughthese plates, which are respectivelyprovided with vertical rods 13 and 14 passing rotatably through struts15 and 16 rigidly secured on the upper side of the respective endchannels of the frame. Arms 17 and 18 are secured to or formedintegrally with the plates 7 and S, or they may be attached to any partof the steerable wheel arrangement, which arms are connected by suitablerods 19 and 20 to a hand lever :21, by the operation of which lever thewheels 2 and 3 may be inclined to change the direction of travel of themachine.

Extending laterally outwardly from one side of the frame are arms 22 and23, in the ends of each ofv which adjacent their extremities are secureddownwardly depending. rods and 25 respectively, carrying on their lowerends plates 2d-27 and QSWS) respectively, these pla-tes being arrangedas shown in Fig. 2, that is, spreading outwardly from the rod to form,as it were, jaws having angularly inclined sides the apex of which jawsis rigidly secured to its respective rod, the mouths of the jaws facingeach other. rlhe upper edges of the plates 2G-27 and .Q8-29 are turnedover inwardly, as indicated at in Fig. Il.

31 indicates a platform provided with bearings 32 and 33 in which arerespectively mounted for vertical movement racks 3d and 35, to the lowerends of which raclrs are secured blades 36 and 37 similar to plowshareblades, the cutting points of which blades face each other, as shown inFig. 2, and are in line longitudinally with the apex of each set of jawsformed by the plates 26 :ZT and 28--29-` Meshing with the racks Si andSure spur pinions 38 and 39 secured to rotatable shafts l1:0 and l1provided with bevel pinions-l2 and i3 meshing with bevel pinions sbl and'lsecured to vertical shafts Al-(i and i7 rotatably mounted ou theplatform 31, the upper ends of which shafts are provided with handwheels lll and 4:9, from which it will be seen that rotation of thehandwhcel i8 will raise or lower raclr 3d and that rotation of handwhecl19 will raise or lower rack and thus the blades 36 and 37 may be raisedor lowered at will.

and 51 indicate hoppers for carrying the potatoes to be sown, whichhcppers are arranged ata suitable height, being supported by supports5:2 and provided with chutes 53 and 5d, the length of which chutes issuch that when a potato is discharged therefrom it will fall in thefurrow made by the blade 36er 37, as the case may be, as will behereinafter described. As the potatoes must be sown` at spaced intervalsit isnecessary to arrange for the intermittent discharge 0f the samefrom the chutes, and this is effected by providing each chute with apair of slides 55-56 and 57 58 respectively, the slides 55-56 beingsecured to opposite ends of an arm 59 fulcrumed in mid-length on abracket 60 secured to the side of chute 53, while the slides 57-58 aresecured to the opposite ends of an arm 61 fulcrumed in mid-length on abracket 62 secured to chute 54, from which it will be seen that if thearms 59 and 61 are operated by a see-saw motion the upper slides willclose the chutes while the lower slides will be withdrawn to open thepart of the chutes below the upper slides, or vice versa.

Rotatably mounted on suitable brackets at each end of the machine areshafts 63 and 64, the extremities of which at one end are extendedadjacent the arms 59 and 6l respectively and on the end of each shaftare secured four fingers, indicated by the numeral 65, these lingersbeing arranged at right angles to each other and of such length thatthey will, as the shafts are rotated, engage successively with the arms59 and 61 below their fulcrum points and move the lower ends of the saidarms toward their respective chutes, thus moving the lower slidesinwardly to close the chutes and at the same time moving the upperslides outwardly. As each linger passes clear the respective arms arereturned to their normal position by means of springs 66, thus reversingthe movementof the slides just described, from which it will be seenthat the see-saw motion hereinbefore mentioned is imparted to the arms59'and 61 by their respective sets of fingers 65.

As only one chute is used at a time, it is necessary to hold the arm ofthe chute which is temporarily out of use clear of the continuouslyrotating fingers which coperate with ythat particular arm and this iseffected by means of the levers 67 and 68, the end of each of which, 69in Fig.' 3, is turned downwardly so that when the hand levers 70 and 71connected to the levers 67 and 68 are movedlongitudinally in therequired direction the ends 69 will be moved to bear on the lower end ofthe arms 59 and 61, as the case may be, to move such lower ends intoward their respective chutes and maintain them clear of theirrespective fingers 65, as shown in Fig. 3.

- The finger shafts 63 and 64 are operated by shafts 72 and 73 mountedtransversely of the frame at each end, being connected theren to bychain belts 74 and 75, and the shafts 72 and 73 are themselves operatedby a line shaft 76 and suitable gearing driven by a gasolene engine,suitable clutch gear, indicated by the numerals 77 .and 78, beingprovided for the reversing of the direction of rotation of the shafts 72and 73 so that the machine may be moved in either direction at will, themovement of the machine being effected by means of chain belts 79 and 80cxtending between the shafts 63 and 64 and the axle 4 carrying the mainwheels 5 and 6. Any suitable driving mechanism may be used, however.

Having thus indicated the principal parts of my invention I willnowdescribe its operation.

Assuming that it is intended to move the machine in the direction of thearrow in Fig. 2, the hoppers 50 and 51 being filled with seed potatoes.The lever 67 is moved by means of hand lever 70 to carry the end 69against the lower end of arm 59 and move the lower slide inwardly toclose the mouth of the chute 53, the hand lever being held againstreturn movement by any suitable means, such as a quadrant 81 with whicha dog 82 carried by the lever coperates for that purpose. The end 69 oflever 68 is moved to the eXtreme out position to allow freedom ofmovement of arm 61, and the rack 35 is dropped to bring the blade orshare 37 into the earth-cutting position, the rack 34 being raised tolift the blade 36 clear of the ground. On the engine being started, themachine travels in the direction of the arrow and the blade 37 cuts afurrow in the ground, into which furrow the potatoes are discharged fromthe chute 54, the discharge being intermittent and regulated by theseesaw movements of the slides 57 and 58, the filling-in of the furrowafter the potatoes are deposited therein being accomplished, as themachine moves along, by the jaws formed by the plates 28 and 29. Whenthe limit of travel in one direction is reached the machine is reversedby reversing the driving mechanism, the blade 37 having first of allbeen raised clear of the ground and the blade 36 dropped into theearth-cutting position, and the lever 68 being moved to hold arm 61against movement, with the arm 67 moved to permit movement of the arm59. Then the operation of the machine as it travels in the oppositedirectioon is the same as described in the foregoing.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a motor propelled planter, a wheel supported frame, arms extendinglaterally from one side of the frame at each end thereof, transverselyarranged furrow closing elements depending from said arms, a platformsupported between the arms, reversely arranged furrow opening elementssupported beneath the platform, and mechanism supported on the platformand connected with the furrow opening elements, whereby one or both ofsuch elements may be rendered operative or inoperative, las desired.

2. In a motor propelled planter, a wheel supported frame, arms extendinglaterally from one side of the frame at each end thereof, reverselyarranged furrow closing elements depending from said. arms, a platformsupported between the arms, reversely arranged furrow opening elementssupported beneath the platform, mechanism supported by the platform andconnected with the furrow opening elements whereby one 0r both of suchelements may be rendered operative or inoperative as desired, hopperssupported on the frame at each end thereof, feed Chutes leading from thehoppers and having the 10 discharge ends thereof extended approximatelyto the furrow line, and means Dated at Vancouver, B. C., this 10th day 35 of J une, 1918.

EFISIO CADEDDU.

